Abstract Research articles in English are read and composed by individuals from many lingua-cultural backgrounds; this diversity in the users of English as an academic lingua franca is likely to increase further with the rise of open access (OA) publishing. In the light of this, a pertinent question is how gender is constructed in international research articles. This study examines OA articles (N = 1003) with respect to the use of epicene pronouns, third-person singular pronouns of indeterminate gender. The analysis of pronominal reference shows that the non-gendered singular they was the most common pronoun overall, closely followed by gendered he or she forms. The use of generic he also occurred with some frequency. Further, the study investigates what kinds of author guidelines OA journals have for the use of gender-fair language. The analysis reveals that specific guidelines were generally uncommon, and that there was no immediate correspondence between policy and practice in cases where journals provided guidelines. Taken together, the findings disclose a state of flux in the use of epicene pronouns in OA articles. A key issue in international publishing and journal editing is thus to raise awareness about gendered language through guidelines and submission checklists.

中文翻译：

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开放获取研究文章中的性别：epicene 代词的作用

摘要 英语研究文章由来自不同语言文化背景的个人阅读和撰写；随着开放获取 (OA) 出版的兴起，英语作为学术通用语言的用户的多样性可能会进一步增加。有鉴于此，一个相关的问题是如何在国际研究文章中构建性别。这项研究检查了 OA 文章（N = 1003）在使用史诗代词，不确定性别的第三人称单数代词方面。对代词指称的分析表明，非性别单数they 是总体上最常见的代词，紧随其后的是他或她形成的性别代词。他也经常使用泛型。此外，该研究调查了 OA 期刊对使用性别公平语言的作者指南类型。分析表明，具体的指南通常并不常见，而且在期刊提供指南的情况下，政策与实践之间没有直接对应关系。综上所述，这些发现揭示了在 OA 文章中使用史诗代词的一种不断变化的状态。因此，国际出版和期刊编辑的一个关键问题是通过指南和提交清单提高对性别语言的认识。